"Yes."
The answer left her mouth before she could think twice. Power. That was what she needed. The path ahead that had felt impossible suddenly looked clearer, sharper, like a blade she could finally grip.
"Oh?" Damon tilted her chin up with two fingers, his smirk deepening. Violet eyes burned into hers, reflecting something dark and hungry. Her eyelashes fluttered against the heat rolling off him.
He stepped back. The warmth vanished like it had never been there. Hazel's mind snapped back into focus as he turned and started walking away, long dark hair fluttering in the strange library wind that seemed to follow only him.
"Teach me," she called after him, voice trembling with need. "Show me the power you demons wield."
She needed him.
The man didn't turn around. His shoulders stayed relaxed, but the air around him thickened, heavy with that calm, dangerous energy she was starting to recognize.
"That's it, little flame," he murmured, voice low and velvet-rough. "Burn brighter."
Hazel smiled despite herself and followed him down the spiral stairs. Damon moved ahead, each step measured, like the entire tower bent to his will. Servants scattered the moment they saw him, eyes glued to the floor, breaths held. He felt strange to her. Alien. Yet something about him still called to her blood. Was he drawn to her flame? She laughed bitterly at the thought. It had to be something else. Back in the woods he had watched her like he already knew every secret she carried. His eyes had traced her every move, every slash of golden fire, like he was memorizing a map only he could read.
They reached the training ground. Hazel's breath hitched. The massive craters that had scarred the walls and floor earlier were gone. The air felt denser now, heavier, like an invisible storm pressed down on everything. The formation he had mentioned hummed beneath her feet.
Damon climbed the elevated platform without hesitation. Hazel's face heated instantly. The memory of him bare-chested, sweat tracing those hard lines of muscle, slammed into her mind again. She forced her eyes away.
He let out a low chuckle, pleasant yet edged with something darker. "Pervert."
Hazel's cheeks burned hotter. "You're the pervert," she shot back. "The one who keeps invading my dreams. And kidnapped me, remember?"
Damon turned then, violet eyes glowing faintly in the dim light of the training hall. He didn't deny it. Instead he rested both arms loosely at his sides and studied her the way a wolf studies a flame — calm, but ready to devour.
"I can tell you felt the denser energy," he said, voice smooth and dangerous. "It's a formation. It heals what I break."
Hazel swallowed. True. If he hadn't held back, the entire place would be rubble.
"You're strong," he continued, circling her slowly. Each step made the air feel tighter.
"But your problem is you've only ever fought like a human. We demons are naturally attuned to demonic energy. It's in our blood. Our bones. Our soul."
He stopped in front of her, close enough that his cedar-and-smoke scent wrapped around her like chains. Violet eyes glowed brighter, threading with faint black.
"Something is wrong with you, though." His voice dropped lower. "That mark on your hand — the Resonance brand — isn't attuned to demons. And the fact that you haven't undergone metamorphosis yet… it means you're not really a demon at all."
Hazel's face went dead. The words hit like a blade to the chest. She wasn't. The king had always called her half-blood, but she had clung to the idea that maybe, somewhere, she still belonged to their world. Tears stung her eyes before she could stop them. The blurred image of her mother flashed — beautiful, too beautiful to be human. The king had seemed human too, once. She had wondered if he wasn't her father at all. What was she now? Just another monster in a world that hated her?
Damon appeared right in front of her in a blink, faster than she could track. He caught her chin again, thumb brushing away a stray tear with surprising gentleness. But his eyes stayed dangerous — calm on the surface, storm underneath.
"Don't think that way," he said, voice low and commanding. "Consider yourself unique. Powerful. After all… I chose you."
Hazel's heart fluttered traitorously. She hated how much those words warmed her. It didn't matter what she was. She was here. She was breathing. And he was offering her the one thing she had always craved.
He stepped back and flicked his wrist. The black tome — Resonance — appeared in his hand, floating between them. The silver runes on the cover pulsed like a living heart.
"This book chose you for a reason," he said, tone shifting into something darker, more instructional. "It's forbidden for a reason. Most who touch it rot from the inside within days. But you… it wants you. So we're going to make it work for you."
Damon opened the book with one hand. Black tendrils of energy leaked from the pages, curling around his fingers like smoke. He didn't flinch.
"First lesson," he continued, eyes locked on hers. "Close your eyes. Feel the book. Not with your hands — with your blood. Let it call to whatever is inside you that isn't human. That isn't demon. That… something else."
Hazel hesitated only a second before obeying. She closed her eyes. The air grew colder, heavier. The book's energy brushed against her skin like icy fingers. Then it dove deeper, searching, probing. Her blood answered. Golden fire flickered beneath her eyelids, clashing with the black tendrils. Pain bloomed in her veins, sharp and sweet at the same time.
Damon's voice slid into her mind, calm but edged with warning. "Don't fight it. Let it resonate. This is how you start attuning. This is how you stop being just a half-blood weapon for kings who throw you away."
She gasped as the energy surged. Visions flickered — fragments of another life, violet eyes watching her across centuries, a garden that wasn't dead but blooming with black roses. Her knees buckled.
Damon caught her before she fell, one arm sliding around her waist, pulling her against his chest. His body was warm, solid, dangerous. "Easy, little flame," he murmured against her ear, breath hot. "You're not dying today. Not while I'm here."
Hazel's eyes snapped open. She was breathing hard, pressed against him, the Resonance tome still floating between them like a living curse. The training ground felt smaller. The air felt charged. His hand stayed at her waist, thumb tracing slow circles that sent sparks racing across her skin.
"You felt it, didn't you?" he asked, voice low and dark. "That pull. That's only the beginning. Keep training with me… and I'll show you how to make the world burn the way you want it to."
Hazel stared up at him, heart hammering. The deal with the devil was already signed in her blood. And for the first time, she wasn't sure she wanted to tear it up.